Resonance
by TuraHarmonia
Summary: After N's crush leaves from his life, the man finds himself struggling through life with a child he does not care for. (Contains original characters.)
1. Prologue 1 - Natural

N's first memory was running.

He was carefree, nearly three years old, running barefoot through the woods northwest of the enormous brown castle in northern Unova. His face was muddied up around the face and eyes, and he had numerous scratches cutting across his face and arms.

To his right was his Zorua and Woobat, running and flying, respectively, at his side. To his back was his Darmanitan, pounding its fists on the wet ground as it ran behind him. The ground shook under N's feet. He squealed in happiness as he continued running.

Figures passed in the trees. One that stood out clear to the little boy was a man. He was tall, probably nearing his thirties, in a t-shirt and khakis. Open-toed slippers with socks were worn on his feet. The man was rather heavy, with muscles. He had dulled green hair in a messy ponytail. N noticed that the man seemed to be looking for something. The man kept darting his eyes nervously, taking swift steps.

N tilted his head curiously. The boy's human interaction was minimal. He smiled and started running after the man, crashing through the leaves carelessly. The man smiled as he saw N and his group of Pokémon friends fall out of the trees. He knelt down in front of N, who had landed on his stomach. He held out his right hand as N looked up at him. The boy smiled as he saw the caring face of the man. He wrapped his tiny fingers around the man's finger, and the man helped the child up.

"Thanks!" N cooed. He hugged the man's leg. The boy had been taught bits of English by Zorua, who sometimes changed into a young child to learn human habits for N's sake.

"Who are you?" The man asked him after he crowbarred the boy off his leg. He held N's face with his hand and wiped the mud off N's face. The boy shut his eyes and stuck out his tongue, spitting out saliva at the man, who laughed.

"Stoppit! Stoppit!" N laughed. He grabbed at the man's hands playfully, and the two of them laughed.

After a minute of this, the man stood up and asked, "Would you like to come with me? I could use an assistant." N could barely understand what he said, so he turned to his Zorua to discuss it. After a bit of interesting chatter and some curiosity from the man, N turned back to him and nodded. The man held out his hand, and N took it.

This man would later be recognized as N's father, named Ghetsis. Tyrant of Unova. Heartless selfish dictator. He would later learn to hate these labels. But now… All he cared about was those he came in contact with. He was interested in N, was currently looking for the source of bleeding footprints in the grass, and would be having dinner with his two childhood friends later that night.

Ghetsis smiled and started walking with N and the boy's friends. He thought it was a bad idea to be bringing a toddler along on where he was going, but he didn't want to leave N alone. Ghetsis continued along, following the frightening splotches of blood on the ground. As the splotches came nearer and fresher, a high pitched crying could be heard.

Ghetsis started to pick up the pace. N was jogging by his side now; his little feet would slide on the blood whenever he ran on it. Eventually, the two of them, along with N's Pokémon, came across a bloody cardboard box with a blanket draped sloppily over it. The two walked over, and Ghetsis knelt down, carefully pulling the blanket off it.

Inside was the most chilling site Ghetsis ever saw. He even told N not to look, and the boy complied, sitting next to the man, facing away, and clamping his hands over his eyes. He peeked through his fingers, though, laughing, like what was happening was a game.

The contents of the box were two little babies. A boy and a girl, both alive. The boy was sleeping, holding a little blanket. His sister was crying. Her face was screwed up as she bawled; bright red, and sad. Both children seemed identical except for their privates. They had the same rosy skin and chocolate-brown hair, and both of them were covered in blood. By the looks of them, they couldn't be older than a few hours. This scared Ghetsis. The children could be dying, and the man needed to get them to safety.

Ghetsis reached his hand inside the box and stroked the face of the boy. The girl cried even harder, which got N curious. He lifted his hands from his face and peeked at the box. He crawled over and looked at the two children.

"Whossat?" N asked. He reached inside and poked the girl's face, immediately drawing back his hand. "Cold! Really cold!" The girl's face was like ice.

"I don't know…" Ghetsis admitted to N. He grasped the box around the handles and picked it up. "I'm going to bring them back home. Would you like to come?" Another round of talking with Zorua and a nod from N, and the group was off.

The group walked through the trees until they reached a back entrance of the large brown castle N feared to go in. A guard dressed in a knight-like outfit let them in through a back door, from a garden filled with exotic flowers. Ghetsis closed his eyes in anxiety. He would like to sit in the garden with his friends and talk for a while with a nice cup of tea in his hands to calm his stress. It had been awhile since he had a chance to enjoy life, and these two babies and the toddler weren't going to help his situations.

They then walked up to a bedroom belonging to two young girls, Ghetsis' adopted daughters. They were 7 and 8 years old, and were adopted when the man found them on the streets. Ghetsis loved children and wanted to give them all a good home. He donated to different charities to help kids, uplifted the spirits of the sad children on the street, and even was looking for a wife that would love them as much as he did.

His two little girls ran up to him. Anthea, the younger one with bubblegum pink hair, immediately stood on her tiptoes to see what was inside the box. Concordia, the older blonde one, started pestering her father with questions. "Daddy! What's that? Where'd you get it?" She asked.

Resisting the urge to burst out yelling at the girls, Ghetsis took a deep breath and responded carefully. "These two are some very special kids, and I want them to be well again." He replied. He set the box down on Anthea's bed and took out the children. He opened one of the girl's drawers and pulled out two blankets. He started to dress the babies, who were as cold as N said earlier.

"Oh! Oh oh oh Daddy! Can I help? Please? Pleaaaaase?" The girls asked. They tugged at the man's clothes, dropping to their knees. Ghetsis sighed and nodded, stepping back as the girls started tending to the children, just as he taught them a while ago. The man then left the room and plopped on a couch in a nearby room. N followed him and sat on the couch next to him.

Ghetsis lifted his head from his hand and smiled as N tumbled into his lap. The boy hugged the man around his belly and laid his head on the man's body. The boy started to fall asleep. The man's eyes grew heavy as he watched N fall asleep.

It felt like a few hours until a doorbell brought Ghetsis to full consciousness. That must be his friends. The man stood up and rubbed his eyes. N fell on the couch, asleep. The man picked up the boy and brought him into Anthea and Concordia's bedroom. The two girls were tending to the twins, who were being fed.

"Can he sleep here?" Ghetsis asked Concordia, since her bed was free. The girl nodded, which signaled Ghetsis to tuck N into his bed. "Thanks."

Ghetsis left the room, walked down the long stairs to the entrance room of the Plasma Castle. It was a round room with marble flooring, with a glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Gold-lined oak doors marked the main entrance to the legendary castle. A piano played itself near the stairs, having its music resonate through the room and nearby hallways. Little tables with cushioned chairs lined the outer ring of the room. Two chairs were occupied by Ghetsis' friends.

His two friends were a man and a woman, both friends back from childhood. The man was named Alder, the champion of Unova. His hair was messy and his clothes were burned, most likely from a recent battle. The woman was named Lenora, Nacrene City's gym leader and museum director. She was due to have a child very soon, so her belly was swelled up with a child. She looked up and smiled at Ghetsis as he came down the stairs.

"Hey! It's been awhile. What's up?" Lenora asked as Ghetsis took a chair by them.

Ghetsis sighed. "You two will never guess what I found today." The two friends were silent, so the man started on the story. How he saw tracks of blood as he was in the gardens and followed it to find N, and how he and N found the cardboard box with the children inside. He also explained that the two were upstairs in the girls' bedroom.

The two friends stayed quiet until Lenora spoke up. "If you don't mind, I can take the girl off your hands." She said. "I don't think that two children will make a difference instead of one."

Alder then jumped on the idea. "And I can take the boy. I'll always need an apprentice to pass on the Championship to." Ghetsis smiled. He was happy that he got the two kids to a new home so easily.

"They're up in the girls' bedroom. I'll show ya." The man guided his two friends up to his daughters' bedroom. The twins were already asleep in an old crib that another child was already sleeping in. Ghetsis had adopted a little baby boy named Buck one day when he found the boy out in the rain and taken him in. He was turning five months old in a few days, so he was quite a bit bigger than the twins were.

The two friends examined the children. "Where did you say you found these kids?" Alder asked, suspicious. "The crying one still has blood on it, along the head."

"The forest. I don't think it's their blood." Ghetsis explained.

N stirred in the bed he was sleeping in, awoken by the commotion of the three loud adults. Zorua was tucked under his arm, sleeping. He left the Pokémon sleeping and quietly hopped out of the bed. He tried to leave the room without anyone noticing, but Lenora spotted him as he tripped over a blanket.

"Hey. Where are you going?" The woman asked with a kind voice. N held his arms behind his back and dipped his head to the floor, scared. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

N mumbled a few things in the Pokémon language and walked over to the bed, hiding behind a blanket. He peeked through the blanket to see the crib with the children inside. He saw that the crying girl had stopped her wailing and was calmer now, her eyes wide open. Her eyes were a striking violet, staring right back at N, who smiled at her. She smiled right back.


	2. Prologue 2 - Those Violet Eyes

The girl with the violet eyes had blossomed in the fifteen years preceding her being found in Unova's northern forests as a newborn. She was raised alongside her (not much) younger sister, Iris, and had been fed the truth that they were really related and she just took after her grandmother on her father's side. The girl was named Moss, after her mother found a bit of the plant on her the day the family took her home.

The day was Moss and Iris' fifteen year old birthday. (Actually, Moss had turned fifteen a few days before, but she didn't know it. Iris was born a few days after Moss was, and since their birthdays were so close together, Lenora just modified Moss' birth certificate that hers was on Iris' birthday so that it wouldn't seem suspicious.)

Moss jumped out of her bed that morning, wide awake. She had spent the night wide awake, on her phone, talking to her friend Bianca through texting. Her loyal Snivy, Jaroda, jumped from Moss' pillow onto her long hair and climbed onto her shoulder. He snuggled his face into Moss' neck and smiled, brushing his tail on Moss' back.

"Aww." Moss smiled. She took Jaroda off of her and placed him on her table. She quickly changed into a white t-shirt, purple jacket and purple skirt, white knee socks and purple slipper shoes. Slinging her purple purse around her body, Moss picked up Jaroda and let him sit on her shoulder. The girl walked outside her room and stepped over to Iris' bedroom, which was across the hallway from hers. She knocked on her sister's door to wake her up.

The door creaked opened a bit, revealing Iris on her bed, in her regular day-to-day clothes, brushing her unmanageable hair. It frizzed up during the night, due to Iris' tossing and turning. She tended to do that a lot, which resulted in many hair-pulling tiring mornings.

"Mind helping?" Iris asked. Her brush was full of purple hair that she pulled out.

"Eh. It looks fine." Moss replied. "You just need to wet down your bangs a bit." She explained. She wet her hand with the water from Iris' bathroom sink and messed with her sister's hair.

Iris looked in her mirror and smiled. "Thanks." Moss started to leave but Iris stopped her. "Where are you going?"

Moss shrugged. "I wanted to go visit Bianca. I'm sick of this house. D'you want to come?" She asked. Iris nodded and followed her sister out of the house part of the Nacrene museum and into the main part. A door brought them to the northern part of the museum. A tour group was already being shown around by the sisters' father, Hawes, and small groups of tourists were looking at exhibits on their own time.

The girls walked to the exit just as an older teenager walked in, holding a bulging manila envelope. Moss almost thought he was a girl since he had almost waist-length green hair in a ponytail, but then heard his deep voice as he asked them a question. "Do you two know where the director's office is?" He asked.

"Yeah," Iris replied. "We can take you right to her." She took the teenager by the wrist and dragged him off to the library part with Moss. They descended the stairs into their mother's office and presented the teenager to the director.

"Erm, excuse me, ma'am, but I have a package for you." The teenager explained once he and the two girls were in Lenora's office-slash-battle-arena. He placed the envelope on her desk. "It's from my dad."

The woman opened the envelope and pulled out a necklace wrapped in bubble-wrap and smiled. "I was waiting for him to give me this." Lenora said, smiling. She opened a glass case by her desk and neatly placed the necklace inside. "He's owed me this for a while. Thanks, kid."

"You're welcome." The teenager replied. "I'll be going now." He started to leave, with the girls following him.

"Where are you going?" Moss asked. Something about this guy intrigued her.

The teenager replied with, "Accumula Town. My brother is waiting for me there. Where are you two going?" He paused, and then held out his hand. "My name is N. What's yours?"

Moss took N's hand and shook it. "I'm Moss, and this is my sister, Iris." She introduced Iris to N, who seemed like she couldn't care less. N couldn't take the hint and instead held out his hand anyway. The two shook hands.

N smiled. "Do you want to come with me, if you don't have anything to do?" He asked, primarily to Moss. The girl nodded, and the two left the museum, tailed by Iris.

The group of three now strolled to the small town together. Moss and N were engaged in a deep conversation about Pokémon battles, since Jaroda seemed interested with N. He was sitting on N's shoulder currently, batting at the guy's long hair.

In Accumula Town, a crowd was gathering around the stage in the middle. Members of Team Plasma were putting on a presentation of sorts. "Want to go see this?" N asked, pointing to the speech that was now being presented.

"It looks bo-o-o-ring." Iris groaned. "Who's that guy you were talking about earlier? Your brother."

"Oh." N said. He scanned around the town and saw a boy with red and yellow hair in a spiky ponytail sitting on a bench, sleeping, with an Umbreon on his lap. "There he is."

"Eh." Iris replied. She tried not to seem interested but on the inside thought that he was pretty cute. N walked over to his brother, followed by Moss and Iris.

N started shaking his brother's head. "Wake up, Buck." He said. The boy called Buck started to stir. He started sleepily batting at N's hand. His Umbreon woke up and started nudging her master in the cheek.

"Don't wanna…" Buck mumbled. He started drooling.

"I don't want anyone to mug you or something, so wake up." N explained. Iris stepped in.

"I'll watch him." Iris explained. She sat down next to Buck and started stroking his hair. "I don't mind."

N started sweating under his mop of hair as he turned to Moss. "Would you like to get some ice cream or something? On me?" He held out his hand and blushed. Jaroda started purring and chattering softly in N's ear, who nodded along to what the Pokémon said.

Moss smiled and took N's hand. "I guess so." N smiled back and Jaroda gave a little "Yes!" in Pokémon, and N nearly dragged Moss to the ice cream shop in the town. Inside, Moss ordered a simple vanilla and N just got a cup of water.

"I had a big breakfast." N explained. He blushed a bit.

Moss laughed. "I didn't have any breakfast!" She ate a bit of the ice cream, but her attention was drawn to a red-haired boy with a Cyndaquil on his shoulder, ordering an ice cream. Something about him interested the girl. Maybe because his hair was messy and entwined with twigs and his arms had bleeding bandages, giving her an air of adventure about him, or maybe because he was a trainer, like her. Either way, she was giddy with girlish feelings.

"Well… erm… why?" N asked, trying to grab Moss' attention. This action was very unlike him. He had never been so attached to anyone before. Sure, he loved his dad, sisters and brother, but not in the way he felt about Moss. He hated the feeling.

"I was…" Moss started. She caught the eye of the red-haired boy. He looked at her, gave a quick smile, and left the shop. Moss' face fell and she finished her sentence. "I woke up late."

"That happens to me all the time." N laughed nervously. He gulped down the rest of his drink and wiped his face with his hand.

Moss smiled nervously. "I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back." She lied. She got up, Jaroda climbing up onto her hair and her shoulder, and walked to the ladies' room. She stood in the room for a few minutes, collecting her breath, and opened the door a crack and saw that N was looking in another direction. Having enough of his flirting, she walked out of the shop casually, and looked around.

The people watching the speech had disbanded, going their separate ways now. The red-haired boy from earlier was sitting on the ground, cross-legged, and examining a little pamphlet with a Team Plasma shield on the front. He was also stroking his Cyndaquil's head as he read. He didn't notice Moss at all, which disappointed the girl. She walked past him, fumbling with her purse, and 'accidentally' dropped the necklace she got for her birthday.

It took him Moss' equivalent of awhile, but he eventually saw the sparkle of the jewels in his eyes and stood up, picking it up. He looked at Moss and walked over. "Miss, does this belong to you?" He asked, walking up to Moss and holding out the necklace for her to see.

Moss put on a fake thankful act for him to be impressed by her act. "Oh, yes it is! Thank you so much!" She took the necklace and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek. She immediately regretted doing that, since he wiped the place where she kissed him and didn't seem to care.

"Well, erm, you're welcome, I guess." He started walking away, picking up Cyndaquil. Moss started feeling sad. Usually guys would come after her and want to try to talk to her in hopes of winning her over, and Moss would always reject him because she likes toying with boys' emotions. (Iris would argue that it only happened twice, and the second time a boy merely asked Moss for directions and the girl went a little too far with messing with him.)

Speaking of Iris, the sister came over, bored with Buck, who started messing with his Umbreon and didn't care about Iris in the least. "Lost with him, too, huh?" Iris asked. Moss nodded. "He didn't seem that nice. Wait, what happened with that N guy?"

"If you spent more than one minute with him alone, you'd understand." Moss replied. Jaroda gave a little "Gimme a break!" sound as he lounged on Moss' shoulder, and snorted in laughter at the conversation.

"That was kind of rude, you know." Iris admitted. She crossed her arms casually.

Moss laughed at her sister's hypocrisy. "Well, you left that other kid." She pointed to Buck, who was glaring at the two girls from where he was sitting. Moss waved at him out of kindness, and he waved back. "See? He can be reasonable." She said to Iris.

"Reasonable, but not interesting." Iris explained. She rolled her eyes. "He's boring and kind of creepy. Also he talks weird."

"Not as weird as his brother." Moss said. N was watching them from not that far away, hurt by that statement. He held his hand on a Pokéball containing his longtime pal Zorua and opened it. The happy little fox bounced around N's feet, who picked him up and started talking to him for comfort.

"Let's go. I'm bored." Iris said. She grabbed Moss by the wrist and guided her out of the town, going back up north to their hometown.

That night it was determined that Iris and Moss were allowed to attempt to collect all eight gym badges in hopes that they wouldn't stay around their house for extended periods of time. Moss particularly liked that idea and Iris was okay with it, so the next day, the two sisters were off.

Over the next two weeks, Moss had obtained both the Striaton gym badge from Chili after easily kicking his ass (she wished it was literally), and the Nacrene gym badge in a hard fight from her mother, who explained that she's "not letting my own daughter have an easy fight when she'll have to fight much harder trainers in the future."

Moss had just lost to Burgh for the third time in the row. She was thrown out of the gym with Jaroda hanging on for dear life to her hair with some cuts all over him, but none of them compared to the cut Moss got. She was in the line of fire during the battle, and a stray Razor Leaf skimmed her left upper arm through the jacket.

Now she was clutching the cut, swearing at Burgh and threatening to murder him in his sleep. The passerby didn't take her seriously, except one person. It was the red-haired boy from Accumula Town, gliding down the street on a skateboard. A Quilava was bounding after him, laughing. "Cyndaquil must've evolved." Moss thought.

The boy stopped as he saw the cut. "What happened here?" He got off the board and knelt down beside the girl, who was wiping away tears of pain. He pulled up the jacket to reveal the bleeding part.

"It's nothing. It's just from a little fight back at the gym." Moss explained, pointing to the entrance behind her. Jaroda laughed at her. The boy grabbed some special medicine from his bag.

"It doesn't look like nothing. It's deep." The boy explained. He rubbed the medicine on Moss' arm, which stung her.

"Ow!" She yelled. The boy held out his free hand and she took it, squeezing, as the medicine seemed to burn away her shoulder. Once the boy was done, he loosened his hand from Moss' grip and took out some bandages. (From the look of it, he seemed to have a stockpile of duct-tape size rolls of them in his pack.) He wrapped it around Moss' arm carefully, making sure not to choke it by wrapping it too tight.

"Is that better?" He asked, putting the supplies away. He smiled the same smile Moss saw him give in the ice cream shop. It seemed almost mocking to any other person, but the girl saw that he truly cared. Either that or she was creating an illusion that boys actually liked her in her mind.

"Yeah. Thanks." Moss thanked him. She twisted the arm around and winced. "It still stings a bit, but not as much as before."

"The pain will stop in a few days, but I doubt that it'll heal up fully. If you're lucky, it'll be a thin scar. Nobody'll notice if you wear sleeves like these." The boy explained. He started unwrapping one of the bandages on his arms, revealing various three-clawed white lines. "See? It'll look like these."

"What happened?" Moss asked, running her hands on the boy's forearm.

He started wrapping his arms up again. "It's nothing." He lied. He stood up, extending his hand. Moss took it, and the boy pulled her up.

"I've seen you around a lot. What's your name?" The boy asked. He smiled at Moss, revealing his yellowing teeth. Not particularly attractive, but it added to the unclean charm of him.

"My name's Moss. What's yours?" The girl replied. She held her hands behind her back, twisting her hair around her finger.

"Eh. Call me Scorch." The boy explained. His burned face turned red.

Moss laughed and said, "It kind of suits you." She brushed the side of Scorch's cheek with her finger, who smiled.

N was watching the two, frowning. He and his friend, Hilbert, who he met when he went back to Nacrene City a few weeks ago, were stalking Moss that day. N had also developed a friendship with Moss and had become a sort of mentor towards her in battles and guiding her around the cities.

"I don't understand what she sees in that guy." N commented, sitting on the bench next to Hilbert. He stroked Zorua violently, rubbing the poor guy's fur the wrong way. He growled at his master, snapping at him.

Hilbert placed his hands behind his head and laid back, closing his eyes. "Girls' minds will never be explained. Don't think about it too hard or you'll explode." He explained. The Larvesta that his father, Alder, gave him at the start of his journey snuggled onto Hilbert's lap and fell asleep. "And I don't understand what you see in the chick, either."

N felt offended. "If you met her, you would know!" He resisted punching Hilbert in the boy's pudgy freckled face, since he was his friend and he sort of reminded N of Moss. Not action-wise, since Hilbert was laid back and lazy, whereas Moss was always energetic and could become almost frantic at times, but would never worry over anything. Out of the two sisters, Iris worried more, but only about Moss. She would always come to N with her concerns about the girl, since Moss had been spending more time with N than with her own sister.

"I bet if I met her, I wouldn't care and she wouldn't care." Hilbert groaned. He wasn't a ladies' man at all. "If you want her so badly, why don't you impress her? Start acting like that boy she likes. Do whatever he's doing and maybe she'll like you more."

"Would that work?" N asked, hopeful.

Hilbert shrugged. "I dunno."


	3. Prologue 3 - Iris' Manipulation

Roughly two years later…

N was facing his best friend, and new enemy. He was standing right beside his father, facing off against Hilbert and Alder. He clutched a Pokéball in his hand. The room they were in was the Champion's room. This is it. The battle that would determine whether Unova thrives or falls. And N didn't like it at all.

He and Hilbert had been used. The two boys were groomed to be the ones in the battle. It all made sense. The two were raised to like Pokémon and want to train them. Their passionate bond to their region helped in the case. However, they were close friends. They never wanted to go against each other.

As the two older men argued, N looked at them with glazed eyes. Hilbert looked like he was deprived of sleep, like N was, or seemed angry. It was safe to say it was probably both. Alder was angry, of course, along with Ghetsis. A thought snuck into N's mind. "Will that be Hilbert and me in thirty years?" He thought.

Something else interested N. He knew these looks on Ghetsis' face before, but not for a long time. He remembered the same gaunt, frustrated look from when he was a kid. Crystal-clear memories entered N's mind of all the times he saw this face, back when he was a toddler. And Alder was there, too, but he didn't see N. Both adults, along with a woman, had their attention on two oddly familiar children.

Then it clicked, right as N received a punch to the face.

N fell to the ground, hitting the back of his head on the ground. His nose was bleeding, and his vision was blurry. He saw two figures fighting each other, and a third walking over. It kneeled down and put its cold hand on N's forehead, then pulled him up to a sitting position. N saw a blob of peach and dotted red framed by brown speaking to him.

"Hey man. Wake up. You hear me?" It asked. N's eyes focused in on the figure in front of him. It was Hilbert, of course. "Hey. You took a pretty bad blow to the head."

"I- what?" N asked. He turned his head to Hilbert's, and felt the warm feeling of liquid drip down his face. He wiped it with his hand. "What happened?"

Hilbert picked N up and let the boy lean on him as the two walked down the stairs to go back to Opelucid City. "Alder punched you. He was aiming for Ghetsis, but he grabbed you as a shield. What were you even thinking, letting him do that?" Hilbert asked.

"I was thinking of your sister." N mumbled.

Hilbert laughed. "Still half-asleep, are you?"

N shook his head. "No, I'm serious. I was thinking of your sister." He gave a more serious tone to enforce his point.

"But I don't have a sister." Hilbert replied. "Do you need a drink or something?"

"Yes you do." N replied. He wrenched himself out of Hilbert's grip, feeling fully awake now.

Hilbert laughed. "Then who is she?"

"You know, Moss. It's obvious." N replied. Hilbert started laughing.

"You're just tired." Hilbert laughed. "Come on, we need to fix up that nosebleed of yours. It looks bad." He got out a tissue from his pack and gave it to N, who wiped up the liquid. They left the area and headed down to Opelucid City.

Once in the city, N spotted a little purple and pastel blur racing towards them. "N! Hey! Get over here!" Iris yelled. She skidded to a stop right in front of the two boys. She grabbed N by the arm and started pulling him.

"Where are you taking me?" N asked. He dug the heels of his shoes into the ground.

Iris turned around. "Moss is in the hospital. I thought you wanted to know."

"Why?" N asked.

Iris smiled. "I'll show you." N started following her before she stopped. She turned around and said to Hilbert, "If she asks, say you're my boyfriend."

"Why me?" Hilbert asked.

"Because. She doesn't know you and she knows that N will never date me." Iris explained. She lead the way to the hospital and entered with the two boys. She checked in with the receptionist and entered an elevator. "I haven't visited her yet." She explained.

They entered a long white hallway. Nurses darted in and out of rooms while doctors took their time to check in on their patients. Iris glanced quickly at a sticky note in her hand and then looked at the numbers on the rooms. She found the corresponding room and entered it with the boys.

The room they entered was fairly pretty. Light filtered in from the windows, casting a pretty glow on those inside. The bed was parallel to the window wall, with three feet of space in between. A little cabinet on wheels was pushed in between, with little supplies on it.

Moss was lying on the bed, in a cyan hospital gown. A UV was inserted in her arm, hooked up to a bag of blood. She was holding a little blanket containing a fleshy pink figure with a dollop of red hair. Scorch was sitting next to her in a chair, talking to her. The miserable lump of a baby started waving its arms and squealing, so Moss calmed it by talking to it and tickling it.

"Oh my God…" N grumbled. Since when was Moss pregnant? Then he remembered that she was dating Scorch… He looked at Moss and noticed that she had two rings on; an engagement ring and a wedding ring. Since when was Moss married?

Iris walked over and hugged her sister around the neck. She then looked at Moss' child. "Aww, she's so cute!"

"He. His name is Jake." Moss corrected her sister. Her voice was weak and quiet. She looked at the two boys. "Hi, N." She said to her friend. She then studied Hilbert. "Who's he?"

"My boyfriend." Iris said.

"Your brother." N said at the same time.

"Since when did you get a boyfriend?" Moss asked, raising an eyebrow. She smiled, as if she was on to Iris' lie.

Iris rolled her eyes. "If you bothered to call me more often, then you'd know. I've been dating him for a while." She lied. N smiled. He had always appreciated how good of a liar Iris was, and how she seemed to believe what she was saying. "But whatever. Can I see him?" She bent over Jake and tickled the boy in the stomach. He gave a pitiful squeal and shied away from his aunt.

"Wash your hands!" Moss yelled. This was the loudest she could raise her voice, however soft it may be, it still set off Jake. He started crying. His already pink face became even redder as he wailed.

"Fine." Iris replied. She squirted some hand sanitizer on her hands and rubbed them together. She sat down and let Moss place Jake into her arms. Iris shot Hilbert a glare and whispered, "Get over here!" Hilbert did as she said.

"He's cute." The boy remarked. Jake's eyes opened a bit, revealing stormy gray irises. At the sight of Hilbert, he started crying. "He's a coward."

"Jake is less than a day old. Of course he'd be scared of new people." Scorch explained. N wasn't surprised that Scorch hadn't slaughtered Hilbert with that comment. Scorch was known for his short, fiery temper, though N was getting the thought that Moss would have calmed these tendencies throughout the two years they spent together and would even it out with the years to come.

Hilbert shrugged. "He'll be messed up when he grows up, then." Iris kicked him in the leg. "But he's cute, and that's all girls care about, apparently."

Iris smiled. "That's true." She and her sister both laughed. Scorch smiled along with them and gave his wife a kiss. N's hands balled up into fists just as Moss was looking over.

"N, are you okay?" She asked.

N calmed down. "I'm fine. I just got something on my mind." He looked at the clock. "I gotta get going. I'll see you guys later." He left the room and entered the elevator at the end of the hallway.

The next morning, N was woken up by his phone buzzing on his face. He had spent the night walking around the city, trying to clear his head. He fell asleep in the lobby of a hotel, on the phone with his brother. "Huh?" N woke up, and answered the phone call. "What?"

Iris was on the other line, sobbing incoherently. "Get-over-here!" She sobbed.

"What? Wha 'appened?" N asked, still half asleep.

"Moss-is-dead-get-over-here-now!" Iris cried.

"Why's she dead?" N asked. He got up, leaving the lobby. Instead of receiving a response, he heard Iris screaming, then a cracking noise, and the line turned to static. N assumed that Iris threw her phone at the wall. N walked to the hospital and entered, but was blocked by Iris, who hugged him, sobbing. "You're such a drama queen."

Hilbert, who was right behind Iris, groaned. "If you spent the last twelve hours with her, then you'd realize that's an understatement." He explained.

"Why did you spend the last twelve hours with her?" N asked. An awkward image of the two of them came into his mind.

"She took me out for food. It's simple." Hilbert smiled.

N laughed. He then turned to Iris. "Why am I here again?" Iris didn't respond. Instead, she dragged him and Hilbert to the elevator. Hilbert pulled a water bottle from his backpack and gave it to Iris. The girl took a drink from the bottle, which seemed to pull her together.

"Moss was already sick and she died last night. The nurses didn't give me any more than that." Iris explained. She was panting right now, recovering from her crying fit. "The nurses are letting me choose who will take care of Jake now and I thought that you would be good for it."

"Why can't Scorch take care of the kid?" N asked. He didn't like children, mostly for the sake of giving Ghetsis the finger, and Jake was the least interesting child he had ever seen.

Iris was angry at this. "That bastard hates the kid! He only pretended to like Jake for Moss' sake."

"I'm gonna kill him." N said. He then asked, "Why can't you take him in?"

"You have a house. I don't. And you're an adult, too, and you're responsible. At least, more responsible than me." Iris explained. She guided them to an office.

A nurse was at a desk, writing something up. "This is the man who you were talking about?" Iris nodded. "Take a seat. Both of you." Iris and N sat down at the two chairs.

"What am I supposed to do?" Hilbert asked. Nobody answered him, so he just leaned against the wall.

The nurse wrote down a few things and slid the slip of paper to N. "Sign at the designated places." The nurse explained. N did as told, with Iris glaring him down in case he tried to avoid anything. Iris was pretty damn intent that Jake was in safe hands and would do anything to do so. N gave the papers back.

"He's yours." The nurse said. "Would you like to go see him?" She smiled. Iris nodded and dug her heel into N's foot.

"Yes ma'am. I would." N responded. The nurse walked out of the room with N following her. Right as he exited the room, he gave Iris the death stare. "You are going to owe me for this." He left and entered another room.

This room was small and dimmed down, playing soft music. Jake was lying in a bed, sleeping, and being monitored by different cameras. "Here he is." The nurse explained. N walked over and observed his new child. Jake was as ugly as ever. His face was shriveled up, in the same crimson red state as it was the day before. He had the same freckles that Hilbert had, but other than that, looked like Scorch. "I'll leave you now." The nurse said. She left the room.

N brushed the side of Jake's face with his finger. The boy squealed in fear, letting out an ear-bleeding cry that would be fitting only if he was on fire or in immense pain. N groaned and pulled his hand away. Jake calmed down and stuffed some chubby fingers into his mouth to suck on. It was a disgusting sight for N to behold, but the man had to choke it down, since he knew he would be spending the next eighteen years with the kid. Unless he would die…

"No." N thought. "This is your best friend's son. You were entrusted with his care, and if something goes wrong, you're a dead man. Just pull it together and everything will be okay."

N swallowed and shakily picked up Jake. The boy started crying, but eventually just shut up and dealt with being held. N remembered back when he was a kid, when his sisters took care of his little brother. They would rock him back and forth to calm him down, so N did the same thing. Jake smiled, and N did, too. "He's kind of cute." N mumbled to himself.

"I told you." N turned around and saw Iris in the doorway.

"Freaking stalker…" N mumbled. "Will you just leave me alone?"

Iris laughed and then frowned. "No way." She started leaving the room. "I'll be watching you."

"Okay." N replied. "You do that…"

Iris popped her head back in the room. "Also I'm dating Hilbert now."

N jumped out of his seat. "What?!"


	4. First Snowfall

It was winter, nearly six years after Moss had died and N had to take care of Jake. Iris and Hilbert had been going out, and for real this time. The two would help N with Jake sometimes, but would mainly leave the man to fend for himself while they went out to watch a movie together.

Soon after Jake came into N's care, the man bought a small, furnished house in Icirrus City so that he wouldn't have to mooch off Ghetsis and live back at the castle. It turned out to be a reliable community. The people were nice and accepting of N's state of living, and didn't mind that he was formerly part of Team Plasma. It was probably because of Jake, who they all saw was the most adorable boy ever.

N didn't think so. Jake had grown into a thin short child with a shy, reserved temper. He wouldn't ever throw a fit and would be timid around new people, just as he was when he was a baby, except he wouldn't break out crying. He had grown at least tolerable. His face was starting to develop like Hilbert's – he had a round face with chubby cheeks, with the same freckles and permanent blush. He was light and small for his age, and N thought that he would break the boy's spine whenever he hugged him.

Jake was playing on the ground of their living room with the Quilava Scorch gave to N to give to Jake, soon after the boy was born. The man would visit Jake on occasions, but the boy would never question who Scorch was. The one time Jake asked, N explained that Scorch was "an old friend of his" even though N and Scorch never saw eye-to-eye and would never be considered friends.

N was on the couch by the child. He had his feet up on a coffee table, eating chips and flipping through the channels on the TV. Quilava sat up on her hind legs and ran to the other side of the room. Jake got up and chased her, knocking face-first into N's legs. He fell on his bottom and started crying.

"Daddy! Daddy, that hurt!" Jake sobbed. He held his knee in pain even though what hurt was his face. N was used to this behavior. Jake only put on this act so that he could get attention.

"C'mere." N said. He picked up Jake and placed him on his lap. "It's okay." He stroked Jake's head, running his fingers through his son's silky, thin hair.

Jake stopped crying and smiled. He closed his eyes and laid his head on N's chest. He stuffed his pudgy hand in his mouth and sucked on it like he would when he was a baby. When he was content, he took his hand out and hugged N, getting saliva all over N's clothes. "I love you, Daddy." Jake said.

N carefully wiped the saliva off his shirt. "Thanks, kid." He replied. He looked at the clock and realized what time it was. "Hey, d'you want to go out for a walk? I need to meet my friends somewhere." Jake nodded; his face lit with curiosity. N got up and walked to the coat hanger by the door as Jake followed him. The man picked a heavy jacket and put it on, and then gave Jake his winter coat. He wrapped it around his son, fit Jake's stubby arms in the arm holes, and zippered up the coat.

"Thanks!" Jake squealed. He grabbed a hat that was hanging on a small hook and put it on over his head. His scarlet hair flopped over his face and neck, pushed down by the tightness of the hat. He pulled on a pair of boots over his fuzzy socks. He stood up as N opened the door. A flurry of white snow skimmed the two's faces. Jake laughed as N spit out some flakes from his face. N clasped his hand around Jake's and led the boy out of the house.

The first snowfall was always the worst in Icirrus City. The land would freeze over in a single night, and a blizzard would always follow. Temperatures dropped severely, but not to a deadly degree. It was always that first day that was the coldest, and the rest were relatively pleasant. N and Jake trudged through the snow, on their way to Opelucid City.

They were safe just as they walked onto the Tubeline Bridge. A hot cocoa stand was set up for those walking from Icirrus City, so N decided to buy one. He gave the stand operator the money he owed and took a steaming hot mug. He gave it to Jake first, who sipped most of it carefully, and then gave it back to his father for a drink. N then polished off the mouthful that was left and gave the mug back to the stand.

With warm bellies, the two walked across the bridge and the route following, and then entered Opelucid City. The split city wasn't as affected by the snowstorm as Icirrus was, but still was cold. On the modern side, by the Pokémon Center, were Iris and Hilbert, who were waiting patiently for N. The two, or Iris, rather, had set up N on a date after N kept complaining about being single. N picked up the pace and walked over by his two friends.

Iris kneeled over and hugged Jake. "Hey, kid!" She said. She kissed Jake on the forehead, which made him giggle. "What's new?" She picked him up and held him in her arms.

"Kyaha!" Jake laughed. "It's cold! Really cold!" His cheeks were frostbitten by this time, and all the child felt was the burning cold of the snow.

"Yes it is! Colder than most winters, actually." Iris said to him. N coughed to get her attention. "Oh yeah. Come on." She started walking down to a coffee shop, tailed by Hilbert and N. Jake was starting to fall asleep in her arms, on account of the cold. They walked inside and took off their coats, slinging them on their arms. This woke Jake up, since Iris had to put him down while she took off her coat.

"So, which one is she?" N asked, scanning the shop.

Iris looked around and found the girl she was setting up N with. In the corner, in a two-seat table was a young woman with wavy chocolate hair, blue eyes, and rosy fair skin. She was wearing a turtleneck and leggings, with fuzzy boots pulled up her feet. A scarf was neatly tucked around her neck. She saw Iris and waved to her, and Iris waved back. "Go for it." Iris said, shoving N towards the girl. N walked nervously to the woman with Jake following him, out of sight of the woman.

"You're the guy Iris said to talk to?" The woman asked. "N, right? I'm Touko." She held out her hand and N shook it. He sat down at the chair.

"Yep, that's me." N laughed. "Sorry, but I had to bring a guest, if that's okay with you." He picked up Jake and placed him on his lap.

Jake smiled at Touko. "Hi!" He said, waving to the woman. Touko's face widened into a smile as Jake did this.

"Aww! He's so cute!" Touko giggled. She turned to N. "Are you babysitting him or what?"

N frowned. "He's my son, and I couldn't bring him to a babysitter because he's not good with them." Touko opened her mouth to talk, but N interrupted her. "Before you say anything, he's not mine. I've also never had a girlfriend ever in my life, so judging me just by me bringing Jake is pointless."

Smiling, Touko replied, "I don't mind. I understand your situation. What I was going to say is that he looks cold right now." Jake was trying to warm himself up by pulling N's jacket around him. Touko pulled up a chair. "Let him sit here. I can get him a blanket." N placed Jake on the chair while Touko got out a blanket from a bin nearby on a table. She gave it to Jake, who wrapped it around himself, cuddling up in it.

As they settled down, N began to apologize. "I'm sorry that I blew up at you. It was really unnecessary." He folded his hands together.

"It's fine. I bet people give you weird looks all the time, right?" Touko asked. N nodded, groaning at all the past memories of people alienating him and giving him weird looks for looking like a single mother. He made a mental note to cut off his hair so that it wouldn't happen again. Touko then asked, "Is it okay if I ask you about him, or no?"

"I'd rather not." N replied. "Hey, uh, I want to get a drink, if that's okay with you. I'll be right back." He got up and went to the front of the shop, ordering a coffee for himself and a cup of warm milk for his son.

Jake had been listening in on the conversation. "What did Daddy mean? 'He's not mine'?" He pulled the blanket off himself to pull him up to the table.

"Have Daddy explain it to you." Touko explained. "I don't know what he meant." She hated lying, but she had to. N came back over and gave Jake the cup of milk. The boy forgot all about his question and drank up the milk, smiling.

"So, what were we talking about?" N asked. He took a sip of his coffee.

"I don't remember." Touko laughed. She started up a little conversation. "So, erm, how did you meet Iris?"

N's face lost all its color. "I'd rather not talk about it." His eyes darted from Touko's face to Jake's.

"Does it involve him?" Touko whispered, pointing to Jake. N nodded. "The boy is… Iris' kid?"

"Her sister's." N explained.

Touko laid her head on her hand. "She never told me she had a sister. What happened to her?" She asked.

"She died." N replied. His voice became hoarse with regret.

"Oh. How did she die?" Touko asked.

"I don't even know. Nobody explained it to me." N replied. "Iris just called me one morning and said that Moss died, and then she brought me over to the hospital and forced me to keep this kid. She didn't even seem too sad about it. She was just, 'You will take care of this child because I'm not able to and I don't care.'"

"That sounds like a bad plot to a book." Touko laughed. N laughed, too.

N then said, "What if it is?" They both erupted in laughter. For a second, N had begun to think that Jake understood what they were talking about, since the boy was looking at both of them. His suspicions were put to rest when Jake laid his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes.

Jake opened his eyes a bit. "Can we go home?" The boy whined. "I'm soooo cooold!" He shivered dramatically. N couldn't tell if he was faking it or serious. He brushed Jake's cheek with his hand, feeling that the boy was much colder than he thought.

"I'm sorry." He said to Touko. "Maybe we can meet up tomorrow or something?"

Touko replied with, "Of course. How about I come to your house? I don't want Jake to freeze again."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." N replied. "Can I borrow a pen and some paper? I'll give you my number and address." Touko took out a pad of paper and a pen from her purse and gave it to N. He scribbled down his information and gave it to her.

"Thanks. I'll come around noon, alright?" Touko said.

"Gotcha." N said. He picked up Jake. "I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye." He left the coffee shop, holding Jake. They started off into the city, with freezing wind whipping in their faces.

"Dad! Lemme go!" Jake complained. He wriggled himself out of N's grip and decided to walk beside his dad. "I can walk myself!" He grabbed N's hand and looked around as the two walked back home.

At one point, Jake saw a young boy his age playing in the snow with his dad. The wife of the man came over with two cups of hot chocolate for them. The man took the cup and kissed the woman on the cheek. The boy ran over and kissed her, too. "Daddy," Jake asked, pulling on N's pants.

"Yes, Jake?" N asked. "What d'you need?"

"Who's that lady? And why is the kid kissing her? I thought only daddies could kiss their lady friend… You told me that yourself." Jake asked. N had told Jake that it would be awkward for Jake to kiss any of the potential girlfriends that he brought over, after Jake tried to give Bianca the same French kiss that N did once. It cost N his relationship with the girl, but he didn't really like Bianca that much.

"I don't know her by name, but I'm guessing she's the boy's mother." N explained.

Jake frowned in frustration. He wracked his memory of vocabulary, realized that he didn't know what he was looking for, and then asked, "What's a mother?"

"The girl version of a dad. I never told you?" N asked. They had entered the Tubeline Bridge.

Jake shook his head, which made snowflakes fall out of his hair. "Do I have one? Where is she?" He asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it…" N replied. He then realized that was the typical response he gave when he talked about Moss. He never understood why. Maybe he was guilty he never gave her a proper goodbye, since he refused to go to her funeral, or maybe because he still had unresolved feelings about his crush on her.

"Why?" Jake asked, pestering his father.

"It's a sad story. You're too young for it." N answered him.

"I'm not too young! I can take it! See?" Jake flexed his arms like a weight lifter would, holding his breath. His face turned as red as his hair, which was quite comical, even for the child's standards of acting silly. He then stretched himself and stood on his toes to make himself look taller.

N stifled a laugh. "Just because you look bigger doesn't make you older. I promise I'll tell you one day, but not today."

"Why not today?" Jake asked.

Sighing, N replied with, "Because you're too young for it."

"Why am I too young for it?" Jake asked.

"Because you won't understand it." N replied. He was starting to get tired of this little game. The boy kept going around in circles. N doubted if Jake even understood that he was repeating things over and over.

"Why won't I understand it?" Jake asked.

"You're too young." N replied. He wished he could take back what he just said.

"Why am I too young?" Jake asked.

"I give up." N said.

"Why do you give up?" Jake asked.

N slapped himself on the face. "Oh my gosh… Is there nothing that will stop you?"

Jake laughed. "Nope!" By this time, they were home. Jake bounded across the snowy ground and ran up to the door. He pounded his tiny fists on the door, trying to alert Quilava and Zoroark that he was home. The curtains were brushed aside by Zoroark, who smiled as he saw Jake in the window. He opened the door to let Jake inside the house.

N reflected on their conversation as he observed the actions Zoroark and Quilava were doing. Zoroark was helping Jake take off his clothes and warm him up inside. Quilava had brought Jake into the kitchen, as she had made Jake a plate of cookies and poured him a cup of milk. The three of them laughed and talked together as if they were a normal human family. N was surprised that Jake had such a fluent ability to speak with Pokémon, but was even more surprised that Jake was oblivious to the fact that he did know what a mother was. She was there all the time, but treated as a pet, and Moss was long forgotten.

The man brushed his hands on a photograph taken long ago, the one picture in the entire house that did not contain Jake. It was of N, Moss, Iris, Hilbert and Scorch together. It was taken at the Amusement Park, a year and a half after they met. He noticed that in the picture that Moss had a pudgy little belly, as always throughout that time. It had gone unnoticed throughout that time that she was carrying a child. Her smiling face masked the fact that she would be gone and dead only months after the picture was taken.

Trying not to bring back painful memories, N flipped the picture onto its face. He made another mental note, this time to replace that photograph with something happier. Jake had gotten ahold of N's camera the week prior and had snapped random pictures around the house, one of which N particularly enjoyed. Jake and Zoroark had dressed up Quilava in N's hat and jewelry, and Jake had took a picture of her like that. N had gotten it printed the other day and had it stored with the kitchen's napkins, not knowing what to do with it.

"Daddy, what's that picture?" Jake asked. He jumped off his chair and ran to N.

"It's nothing." N replied. "Now, d'you want to play a game with me?" He asked, to distract the boy from the picture.

"Yes! Yes please!" Jake replied. N pulled the boy off to his bedroom, placing the photograph on the table. If she were still alive, Moss would be smiling like she was in the photograph at the sight of her son playing happily.


	5. Trials of Sanity

That night…

Zoroark and Quilava were fast asleep on the couch together. N was passed out in his bed. Jake, however, was huddled under his blankets, sweating like crazy. He had just woken up from a nightmare, and a scary one at that. The woman from the photograph had appeared as a ghost, warning the boy about something. She then turned into the wind, and Jake found himself in a wintery forest, all one, freezing to death. A surreal dream indeed, but realistic enough to Jake that he thought it was real.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Jake cried. He ran into N's bedroom with a plush toy tucked in his arm. He jumped on the bed, shaking his father awake.

"Whasswrong?" N asked, still half asleep.

"There-was-that-creepy-lady-and-she-scared-me-and- I-don't-know-what-to-do-she's-gonna-kill-me!" Jake wailed.

"C'mere." N said. He pulled over the covers and Jake crawled in next to his father. N wrapped his arm securely around Jake. "Everything will be okay. She won't get at you with me here." Jake calmed himself down by sucking on his hand a bit. His drool dripped down his arm as he did this.

"I don't want the lady to hurt me…" Jake whispered. With this, N pulled Jake closer to him. "She's real! I know it!"

"Calm down. Tell me what she looked like." N explained to Jake. To please the boy, he said, "I know a lot of people, and if she's real, then I'd know her."

"She had long hair, really long hair." Jake said. He hiccupped a few times. "And she looked like Uncle Hilbert. I don't want Uncle Hilbert to hurt me!"

"Uncle Hilbert won't hurt you, and if he does, I'll punch him in the face." N explained. "Now go to sleep."

"But who is the lady?" Jake demanded. He shook N's face with his tiny, saliva-covered hands.

"I don't know. Stop asking questions and go to sleep." N explained. He rolled over onto his other side, nearly crushing Jake in the process, but it was enough to shut up the miserable child and get some sleep.

The two were able to sleep for the remainder of the night without problems. They woke up around ten o'clock the next morning. N opened his eyes and saw how Jake had curled up next to his chest in the middle of the night. The little boy was leaning his head on N's neck and chin, making a little purring noise like he was happy. He still had his hand stuffed in his mouth to satisfy him.

N sat up and shook Jake. "Wake up, kid." He said. Jake didn't budge. N shook him harder. "Come on, let's go eat breakfast." At the sound of breakfast, Jake's eyes opened up, and the boy sat up next to his dad. The two got out of N's bed and walked into the kitchen.

Zoroark and Quilava were already on the couch, watching TV. For a second, N thought two random people had invaded their house, since Zoroark was lounging on the couch like a human and Quilava was laying her head on his chest. Zoroark had his arm wrapped around Quilava.

N walked into the kitchen and got out some milk. He poured a bowl of cereal for Jake and started preparing a coffee for himself. Jake sat himself at the table, waiting patiently for his food. Finally N finished the food and gave Jake his bowl of cereal. He himself sat next to his son and sipped the coffee quietly as Jake wolfed down his food.

"Done!" Jake said. He threw his hands in the arm, flinging his spoon in the air. It hit Zoroark in the head, who growled.

"Watch it!" Zoroark yelled in the Pokémon language. "That hurt." He rubbed the side of his head at the spot where the spoon hit him.

"Sorry! I didn't mean it." Jake apologized, back in the same language. He walked over and picked up the spoon. Zoroark licked him up the side of his face, knowing that he didn't like it. "Yeech! Quit it!" He walked back to the kitchen and put away the bowl and spoon in the sink.

"Go get dressed, okay?" N told Jake.

"Why?!" Jake whined. "Nobody will notice."

"I don't think Miss Touko would appreciate you running around in your pajamas when she comes over." N explained. "She's coming in a few hours, and I think I might get you a present if you act like a good boy around her and do as I tell."

"Miss Touko is coming? Oh yes! I'll go!" Jake rushed to his bedroom, throwing open a drawer and pulling out some clothes.

His bedroom would simply be called a child's room to anyone who saw it. The bed was decorated with a navy comforter and two blue pillows. A small wooden nightstand, built by Scorch for Jake's first birthday, was next to the bed. It contained two drawers, full of socks and underwear in one drawer, and the other of little truck toys. A lamp was placed on the stand, which was the main source of light in the room at night, since Jake couldn't reach the switch for the overhead light. A photograph of Jake and N was placed next to it, alongside an alarm clock.

A long low drawer, bought to match Scorch's handmade one, was next to the bed. It was the one Jake was rummaging in. It contained the boy's day-to-day clothes, and had other photos and toys on it. Opposite the drawer was a seldom used desk, bought so that Jake would have a place to work at when he had schoolwork, if he decided to go to school in place of being a Trainer.

Jake pulled out a green t-shirt and a pair of khakis he found comfortable. He quickly changed into the clothes and ran back to the living room, sitting down on the couch next to Zoroark and Quilava. N opened the front door to the house and quickly opened the mailbox that was nailed to the house. He took out the wad of envelopes, and was face-to-face with Touko, who was reaching for the doorbell.

"Hi! I thought I would come early, since I had nothing to do for the morning." The woman explained. She was in full winter gear, shivering from the cold. "Did I scare you? I'm sorry!"

"No, not at all. Come in." N replied. He let Touko into the house and closed the door behind them. "Though, I would've appreciated it if you called."

Touko laughed at herself. "Oh, sorry! I forgot. I'm really sorry about that." She took off her coat and boots and placed them next to N and Jake's clothes.

"It's fine, don't worry." N replied. "Do you want something to eat or drink? You like coffee or tea?" He put the mail down on the kitchen table and walked to the kitchen itself. "Have a seat here." He pointed to the table as he rummaged around the kitchen.

"Tea is fine, actually." Touko replied. N took out a teacup and poured water in it. He popped in the microwave and turned it on to get the water heated up. He then got out a metal box and put it on the table, opening it. Inside it was lines and lines of teabags.

"Which one?" N asked. Touko picked out a bag at random. The microwave beeped, and N stumbled out of his chair and walked over to it. His chair had been knocked over in the process, which Touko laughed at. N's face grew red with embarrassment as he took out the teacup. He brought it back to the table for Touko.

Touko took the cup and dipped her teabag in it. "Thanks." She said. She didn't sound sincere about it, but she seemed happy, so N was happy for her. She smiled, which made N look away. The way she acted gave an impression of Moss onto N, which made him act as he would around Moss. He felt butterflies in his stomach as he looked at the woman. She not only looked like Moss, but acted like her. She was kind, yet insecure around N, due to his insecurity with talking to her. The only thing about Touko that wasn't like Moss was that she was single.

N looked down at his mail, shuffling through. There were the typical bills, then spam, and a little gold-lined envelope. Touko saw it too and gave N a grin. N opened it up carefully and pulled out the contents. A thick piece of creamy white paper with golden flowers gave a little invitation that "…'cordially invites Natural Harmonia Gropius and Jake Harmonia to the wedding of Iris Marilynn and Hilbert Black.'" N read aloud. "Huh. When did Hilbert propose?"

"Not too long ago, actually. Neither of them told you?" Touko asked. "Hilbert was telling me the plan. It was really cute how he did it. He gave her a Pokéball with the ring inside it after a battle. She was really surprised, and she thought it was cute."

"Are you going to the wedding?" N asked her, assuming Touko was invited.

The woman nodded. "Yeah. Do you think you will be able to go? It says your son is invited, so you don't have to get a babysitter for him."

N looked back at the envelope and saw the date of the wedding was in three weeks. He wasn't doing anything on the week it would take place, so he thought everything would be okay. "Yeah, I'll go. I'll tell Jake." N said. He turned around to tell his son, who was already standing right next to him.

"Tell me about what?" Jake asked. He seemed interested in what N and Touko were talking about. Touko herself spied a small slip of paper inside the envelope. She took it out and read it while N was occupied with Jake.

"Well, Auntie Iris and Uncle Hilbert are getting married soon. I was wondering if you were okay with coming. It'll be fun!" N said to Jake. Jake's face widened into a smile.

"Yes yes yes!" Jake replied. He then frowned, crossing his arms. "What's in it for me?"

Touko butted in. "I think I have an answer." She showed Jake the piece of paper. "This says that you were chosen to be the ring bearer. Won't that be fun to participate in a wedding?"

"What does the ring bearer do?" Jake asked. He had no idea what happened in a wedding besides that the lady wears a white dress and the two getting married usually would ride in a limo together.

"He brings the rings to the couple, and he gets to wear a suit. He walks up the aisle aside the flower girl, and he can ride in the limo if he wants." N explained. He knew that Jake liked the idea of riding in a limo.

"Oh! Yes! I wanna ride in the limo! I wanna wear a suit!" Jake squealed. "Oh oh oh! When is it?"

"A few weeks." N explained.

"That's too long!" Jake complained. He dramatically flopped to the ground, crossing his arms. He puckered his bottom lip out. A strand of hair fell in front of his face, so Jake blew it away.

Touko laughed at Jake's behavior. "How about I take you and Daddy to pick out your suit tomorrow? I can ask your Auntie Iris and Uncle Hilbert if they want to come." She explained.

Jake raised an eyebrow. "I'll consider."

Touko started giggling. She turned to N. "He's just priceless!" She laughed, leaning her head on N's shoulder. N's face blushed a bright red, which Jake noticed. Jake gave a mischievous grin, knowing that N felt happy that Touko liked him. He walked back to the couch and sat down, watching the two adults talk.

"So, erm, Touko." N said to the woman, seeing that Jake had walked away. "D'you… d'you think you'd want to come to the wedding with me?"

"As a couple?" Touko asked. Holding his breath, N nodded. Touko gave him a grin. "I'd love to! You know, N, you have to stop acting so worried when you're talking to me. What's the real reason you're so nervous?"

N started sweating. "You remind me of my old girlfriend." He lied.

"Iris told me that you never had a girlfriend before." Touko replied. She didn't seem angry about the lie; only curious.

"Well, she was more of a crush than a girlfriend." N admitted. He looked away.

"You mean Moss, don't you?" Touko asked. Her eyes were full of concern now. "Why are you so obsessed with her? Why can't you move past her and move on to someone else?"

"I don't know. She was the first girl I ever had an attachment towards. She wasn't perfect, but she was still..." N cut himself off. "She wasn't that great of a person. She had an attitude and she didn't like me. I think I only liked the idea of her."

"I understand." Touko replied. She ran her hand across N's arm to comfort him. "I used to have a crush on someone unobtainable. He wasn't that nice of a person, either, but I still flipped out when he got a girlfriend."

"Same." N replied. "You know, I can only stand taking care of Jake because I pretend that he's both mine and Moss' kid, instead of Scorch's. It's pathetic."

"No it's not. You're just acting like a kid, and that's okay." Touko replied. N cringed as she said that. Touko continued with, "I like that in a man. It means they're great with children, and it seems like you are."

"People use that as an insult against me." N explained.

"Well, I'm not." Touko replied. "You have to stop letting people get to you. It's not good for you."

"I know, but it's hard. It's just a little habit of mine." N explained. "I've been doing it ever since I was young, so it kind of stuck on me."

"That's an excuse. You can change for the better if you want."

"I know… I'm pathetic."

Touko frowned. "Stop calling yourself pathetic because you're not. If you insult yourself, you welcome others to do the same. If you have more confidence, then people won't get to you as easily."

"You're right." N replied.

"Maybe if you didn't put yourself down, then Moss might have liked you more." Touko replied. "Maybe she would've fallen in love with you and you wouldn't be in this mess."

Sighing, N replied, "You're right. But…"

"But what?" Touko asked.

N put his hands on Touko's. "I wouldn't have met you."

Touko gave N a giggling grin and pulled her hands to her lap. "Thanks. But you also forgot, you wouldn't have Jake, either, you know."

"Oh. Him." N replied.

"What's wrong with Jake?" Touko asked. As she turned her head to the side, her hair spilled off her shoulder. N was paralyzed for a second, due to how beautiful she looked. It was low of him to be overwhelmed with such feelings just because of how a person looked, but he couldn't control his feelings.

"Huh?" N cleared his mind and focused in on what Touko said. "I-erm… I don't like the kid. He's whiny, manipulative and annoying."

"But he's cute! Nobody can resist him." Touko smiled.

"I don't think he is. He's ugly and he always smells like crap." N explained.

"What's the real reason you don't like him?" Touko asked. She didn't believe what N was saying.

"I just told you. And he doesn't stop annoying me." N explained. "He's always asking me questions and half the time he has no idea what he's saying."

"I don't know what now?" Jake asked. He had walked over and was sitting cross-legged at the foot of N's chair. He seemed oblivious to the fact that his father was openly insulting him. His gray eyes were huge with curiosity.

"Go to your room." N growled.

"Whyyyy?!" Jake whined.

"Go. Now." N demanded, pointing to Jake's bedroom. The boy trudged off, head hung down.

"That was harsh." Touko noted.

"I'm sorry." N said quickly.

Touko looked down. "I think you need more happiness in your life. Then you won't be doling out these punishments. I mean, I haven't known you for that long, but you seem miserable where you are right now." She put her hand on N's arm, which made the man look back at her. "Do you want me to stop by more often, so you're not crammed in this house with Jake all the time?"

N nodded. "Yeah. I'd like that."


	6. The Endless Demands of Jake Harmonia

"Oh oh oh, Daddy, can we get this suit?" Jake asked. It was the day after N received the invitation to Iris and Hilbert's wedding. As promised, Touko and N had taken out Jake to go get their outfits in a shopping mall in Castelia City. Iris was able to come along, but Hilbert was out buying the couple's groceries, so he couldn't come.

N looked at the price tag of a silky black child's tux. "Jake, this costs over a thousand dollars. I'm not getting it for you." He explained. He kept his voice calm and almost bland to keep Jake himself calm.

Jake put on his pouty face. "Whyyyy? You said I could get whichever one I wanted!" He complained. "You prooooomiiiiised!" He clutched his father's pants and looked up at him, trying to cry on cue.

"You did promise." Iris said, trying not to laugh at Jake's guilt-tripping act. Touko was also keeping in her laugh. The two girls just thought Jake was a cute little boy and that he was just being the dumb needy child anyone at that age was.

Jake then cried out, "She's right!" while wiping his pouty attitude off his face.

"He's only going to wear it once. Why should I waste my money on it?" N asked.

Rolling her eyes, Iris said, "You promised him." She kept her voice calm so that she wouldn't get N any angrier.

"It was rhetorical!" N yelled. A few other people in the store turned their heads. Touko then walked over to N and pulled him aside.

"Calm down." She explained to him, stroking him on the arm, since that was what calmed him down lately. After a half minute or so of this, which did calm N down, Touko then said, "There's no reason to get worked up over it. Maybe I can pay for it. It's okay."

"No." N said immediately. "Don't waste your money. I'll just get it myself." He turned to go get the tux and was starting to pull out his wallet when he saw Jake and Iris at the check-out. N then ran his hand through his hair, wondering why Iris would do this in the first place, then thought that maybe she was buying it as a gift. An expensive one, but still a gift. Aunts would do that, right? N kind of wished his father wasn't an only child so that he would understand the logic of what aunts and uncles would do for their nieces and nephews.

"What's wrong?" Touko asked.

"She's crazy… Iris is just crazy." N muttered, walking over to Iris and Jake. "What are you doing?" He asked the woman.

Iris picked up the plastic bag containing the tux. "Jake really wanted it, so I got it for him." She explained. N looked down at his son, who was beaming. He seemed quite grateful that his aunt was kind enough to drop a thousand dollars, plus tax, on an outfit that he would only wear one night and then subsequently destroy with apple juice, grass stains, and streaked mud.

Groaning, N said, "You didn't have to do that. Really, you needed that money for the wedding." Before Iris could open her mouth, N continued with, "I'm still paying you back."

"Fine. If you're going to be that way…" Iris started. She grasped Jake's hand and started to leave. "We're going to get lunch. I don't know about you." She started to leave.

Touko grabbed N's arm. "We're coming." She pulled along N as she followed Iris and Jake out of the store and into the hallways of the mall.

Jake slipped his hand out of Iris' and started running ahead of them. Since the kid's gait was and always would be messed up, he stumbled a bit. His voice started to warble as he opened his mouth, talking inadvertently. He gave a quick look back at his dad, trying to get his attention, which he succeeded in.

"That's not cute." N told Jake. The boy's face drooped. "Yeah, it's not cute, so just stop it." Jake started bawling right in the middle of the walkway. He flopped on his bottom and just started his faux wailing. Iris kneeled down and picked up Jake as they walked to the different fast-food places. The boy's crying cleared up immediately. He laid his head against Iris', smiling. He then opened his eyes and stuck his tongue out at N, which Touko laughed at.

They walked over to a vendor selling sub sandwiches. The three adults ordered their sandwiches, but Jake took longer to order. "Daddy, can I get French fries instead of chips? Please?" Jake whined.

"They don't serve fries here." N explained. Touko was holding his hand, massaging the back of N's hand with her thumb so that he wouldn't get worked up.

"But I-" Jake started.

"No excuses. You get what's offered or nothing at all." N explained to Jake.

"I-" Jake whined.

"Then you get nothing." N decided. He took out his credit card and paid for the three sandwiches. Grabbing the food, he took the food and brought it over to a table. The two girls followed him, not saying anything. They all sat down and started to eat.

Jake slumped in his chair, trying to pick at the adult's food. Iris would slip him chips when N wasn't looking, and Touko let him drink her soda. That all ended when N saw what they were doing and subsequently smashed Iris' bag of chips and grabbed Touko's cup of soda, tightening his grip on it so hard it imploded on itself, having the soda drip down his hand. He then walked out of the mall, into the parking lot, leaving the girls confused and Jake to pick at the remains of N's food.

"I'll go check on him." Iris said to Touko. She got up and followed N outside. Once she was out of earshot from everyone, since nobody would be outside in a parking lot in the middle of winter, she started yelling. "What the hell was that?! What did we do to you?"

"Jake is demanding! When he demands, I don't give what he wants to him! And with you and Touko giving in, it defeats the punishment!" N yelled.

"Well, why don't you let him? Just once give him the satisfaction of having a little present!" Iris replied.

Grumbling, N retorted, "He's gotten presents all his damn life from me! And from you, and from my father, and from every other person he knows! You now my father sends me a check every month to be paid out to the kid for toys?!" Iris' face fell as N kept backlashing at her. "If he doesn't know what 'no' means, his life will be ruined! He'll be demanding left and right, or wasting all his money on crap! Do you understand that?! Do you?!" He was now backing Iris into the wall of the mall.

Iris was almost crying now. She was looking away, with her face turning red. "I didn't…" She started. "I didn't know…"

"If you're so perfect with teaching children how the hell to act, then how about you take him and teach him yourself?! You had this opportunity, you know! But you decided that I should, because I'm so perfect, but if you're changing what I'm trying to teach, then _I'm not as perfect as you thought!_" N continued. "You were _wrong,_ and you're always wrong, you get it?!"

Instead of responding, Iris kicked N in the shins. "Maybe I will." She snarled. She then trudged back into the mall to go get Touko and Jake to go home.

The group of four went home after that by subway. At the stop to get off to Opelucid City, Iris literally had to drag Jake out of the train to get him away from N. He made a scene, but apparently, it was worth it. When the boy cried for his father, N didn't give any hint of emotion.

N and Touko got off at their stop. They stepped into the frigid winter air of Icirrus City and trudged through the snow to N's house. N opened the door and entered, letting in Touko first and then closing the door behind him. The two stripped out of their winter gear and just flopped on the couch.

"What did I do?" N groaned after a minute of not hearing Jake play around with some toy. He ran his hands through his hair as he normally would.

"Maybe a sleepover at Iris' house will straighten things out." Touko suggested. She started running her hand across N's belly, feeling the rise and fall of his body as he breathed.

"Yeah, maybe." N sighed. He laid his head on Touko's shoulder. "I just hope they're not taken over by the kid."

And they were. Sort of.

At Iris and Hilbert's house, Jake's demands didn't stop, but the couple didn't care. Jake had requested that his spaghetti without sauce but with butter. He wanted dessert immediately after dinner. He wanted to watch a movie with his aunt and uncle. Small requests that honestly were guilty pleasures of the couple. (Hilbert hated the sauce Iris' mother came up with that they used on the spaghetti. He would eat it to make Iris happy.)

Finally, Jake was passed out in Iris' arms at the end of a little animated kid's movie they were watching, which told the story of a little kid who befriended Shaymin. Jake was put in a trance as the little boy fell in love with the little Pokémon and overcame challenges with it. He himself wished to be in that place, and was dreaming about it when he fell asleep.

Hilbert turned to his fiancé. "If you were to choose, would you rather have a son or a daughter?" He asked, trying to make some conversation.

"I can't choose." Iris replied, smiling. She had experience with girls Jake's age, since she has a cousin on her mother's side named Bridget. The girl would be turning eight in the upcoming spring. Iris had become Bridget's favorite cousin since they would hang out often and Bridget would be entertained by Iris' tactics to keep the young girl happy. Iris had actually invited the girl to be the flower girl at the wedding and she said yes, so Iris thought Jake maybe could have a playmate.

"If I would choose, I'd choose a daughter." Hilbert gave in his opinion. "Though I'm fine with a boy. Jake is okay. I mean, he's cute and enjoyable. I could put up with him."

Iris laid her head on Hilbert's shoulder. "Yeah… Why did you ask in the first place?"

Hilbert shrugged. "I, erm… I want kids, okay? Is there anything wrong with that?" He asked, smiling.

"No, not really." Iris replied. She smiled back. "I do, too, but not really soon."

"Why?" Hilbert asked.

Iris sighed. "I don't want to die at this age."

"Who says you'll die?"

"My sister. After Moss died, I really didn't want to have kids because of what happened with her. I know, not every girl will die after they have children. I mean, look at my mom. Look at- Oh…" She remembered Hilbert's situation with his parents, or lack of parents.

"She's still alive, you know." Hilbert explained. "I met her before, and my father. They were interesting, for lack of a better word. But I told them about what happened with Moss, 'cause the woman remembers she nearly was killed by two kids, so I kind of had to tell her about Moss."

"How was she?" Iris asked. "And your dad."

"Selfish. Creepy. Also disinterested. My mother really didn't care that Moss died. She laughed when I told her." Hilbert explained. Iris was shocked at this. "Yeah, I know. The woman said it was fitting that Moss died like that. And the guy reminded me of, you know, Scorch and this kid." He brushed Jake's cheek.

"He loved him, you mean." Iris explained. "Scorch loves Jake, but he doesn't like to say it. He told me if Moss was alive, he'd try to be with the kid at every moment, but he doesn't want to let N know."

"Oh." Hilbert said. "But my father, he hates me an' Moss. He said he had to deliver us and that gave him 'nightmares', apparently, and that the two of us were ugly and a disgrace to the family."

"But you're not." Iris replied, kissing Hilbert on the cheek. "You're handsome and kind and my family loves you, and I couldn't think of any other man to bring into my family then you."

"Aww, thanks…" Hilbert replied, blushing. His eyebrows bunched together in confusion. "You do realize it's weird that your mom and my dad-" referring to Alder, of course, "-used to date. I wonder how they'll react at our wedding." The couple was really looking forward to their wedding, but was scared, too, at the outcome of what might happen, specifically with their guests. They were hazy at the idea of Bridget and Jake being the flower girl and ring bearer, respectively, and their choice of Bianca and two cousins of Hilbert's as bridesmaids.

"I think they'll just be happy that we're happy." Iris replied. She felt Jake shift in her arms. "I think we should bring him to bed."

"Yeah…" Hilbert replied. They got up and brought Jake to their bedroom. Iris placed Jake on the bed and pulled the covers over him. The little boy rustled around a bit but eventually was content and stayed happily asleep. "He's cute like this." Hilbert remarked.

"Yep." Iris replied. She sat down next to the boy and stroked his hair out of his face. "I can't see why N ever sees him as ugly. He's just an innocent little kid."


	7. Enter the Village

Jake woke up confused as to where he was. He was lying in Iris and Hilbert's bed with Iris, in his street clothes, but Iris was in a nightgown and Hilbert was nowhere to be found. Jake got up and stumbled out of the considerably large bedroom. He entered the second floor hallway and walked down the stairs. He saw that Hilbert was passed out on the couch with the TV remote in his hand.

Laughing, Jake got to exploring around the house. He had visited here very often, but was never alone to go look around and wreck the place. He walked over to the coffee table, where on one side was Hilbert's assortment of pop cans, chips and comic books, and on the other was Iris' bowl of flowers, a coaster, and a photo album, and a thick one at that.

Jake loves pictures. Jake loves books. So naturally, Jake was attracted to this big shimmering book filled with pictures. He opened the photo album, and saw multiple pictures of Iris as a child, with a pale, brown-haired girl with striking purple eyes. He thought that Iris looked very cute, same with the purple-eyed girl.

He flipped through and saw Iris and the purple girl grow up and meet new friends. Around about the time that N and Hilbert came into play, the purple girl's pictures stopped. Pictures of Jake and N together replaced the girl. Jake got bored with them, since he had already seen each picture.

Instead of re-examining the pictures of himself and N, Jake decided to look for more pictures of the pretty purple-eyed girl. He flipped back to the pictures of her and stared in awe at her flawed beauty. Unlike Iris and Touko, the girl wasn't paper thin. She had weight on her, in all the right spots, like Grandma. (Jake had grown up with the mentality that Iris and Moss' parents were his real grandparents, and Ghetsis was referred to as just 'N's dad', so Jake's judgment of what a grandparent was is incredibly confusing.)

What else was different about the girl was that when she seemed about Touko's age, she would almost always be seen with N's sort-of grumpy old friend, Scorch. At least this time, Scorch was always smiling. He was not only smiling, but also happy. He would kiss her and snuggle with her and would never be frowning. At one point in the silent story of pictures, Scorch and the pretty girl had a cute little baby!

Well, the little baby wasn't that cute… but still, the couple looked happy for the few pictures it showed them with the baby! The baby herself… himself? was really familiar. Jake just couldn't put his finger on where he had seen the kid before. He picked up the page to flip it, but was startled by Iris, who pounded down the stairs to eat breakfast.

"Jake, what are you doing?" She asked, still drowsy. She came over and sat next to Jake on the couch, which meant that she had to sit on top of Hilbert. "What'cha looking at?"

"Nothing." Jake lied. He tried to put the book away, but Iris took it from him.

"Why were you looking at this page?" Iris asked.

Jake replied with, "This girl is pretty. I like her," while pointing to the girl with the purple eyes. "Is she nice? Who is she?"

"The best person ever." Iris replied. "She's the nicest, most amazing person ever."

"Can I meet her?" Jake asked.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"She's dead."

"How'd she die?"

"Let's go eat breakfast." Iris dragged Jake to the kitchen and started up a cup of coffee. She then poured Jake a little cup of cereal and shoved it in front of him. "Eat up."

"Oooh! I love this cereal!" Jake squealed. He started eating happily, slobbering milk over his face and the table. Iris pulled out her coffee out of the maker, sipped a bit of it, and wondered what the hell N would be doing instead of taking care of the red fuzzball that was destroying her kitchen.

The man was actually just waking up at this time. He was lying face-up in his bed, with Touko right next to him. She had her head leaning on N's, breathing softly. It was cute. The woman opened her bright blue eyes a few seconds later.

"Hey." N snored.

"Good morning." Touko yawned. "Would you like me to make you some breakfast?" She sat up, pulling the covers along with her.

N grinned. "You don't seem that tired." He remarked.

"I've been up for a few hours, honestly, but I thought waking you would be rude." Touko admitted. Her face flushed a deep red.

N sat up next to her. "It would've been fine, though I would be grumpy." He laughed a bit. "I'm not sure if we have anything breakfast-wise except Jake's cereal, so if you don't mind eating that, then…"

"That's fine. I'll go make them." Touko replied. She got up and grabbed a fuzzy bathrobe on a chair. "Your house is freezing!" She wrapped the bathrobe around herself and walked out into the kitchen. N laid back down and wrapped the blankets over him in a little cocoon, trying to take a little nap before Touko would kick him out of bed to go eat breakfast and bring Jake home from Iris and Hilbert's house.

Around five minutes later, Touko came back in the room. She sat down on the end of the bed, shaking N awake. "Come on. Get up." She said.

"No." N said. Touko squeezed his cheeks, making his mouth puffy. "Stoppit." He got up and followed Touko into the kitchen. She had a bowl of cereal at N's spot at the table and a piece of toast at what would've been Jake's spot. They ate quickly and then retreated back to N's bedroom and got dressed.

"Should I go and pick up Jake?" Touko asked. "You can stay here if you want and maybe clean your bedroom. That place is a pigsty."

"Fine." N laughed. He started picking up his clothes as Touko left the room.

* * *

It was a few weeks later. N and Jake had made up, and Iris had been given a sincere apology from N. The three of them, along with Touko, Hilbert, and a fair few friends from Unova were boarding a train that would take them to the Village of Dragons, where the wedding would take place. It was an ideal place to go during the winter, since it was sunny and warm year-round, and the scenery was perfect for photographs.

Iris spotted out an empty spot next to her cousin, Bridget. She nudged Jake. "How about you go sit next to her? She's really nice. I bet you'll like her." Iris explained.

"Uh, okay." Jake replied. Blushing, he walked quickly up to Bridget's seat. He sat down and looked up at the older girl. She was quite pretty. Her green poofy hair was tied in a soft ponytail that Jake wanted to paw at like a cat. The girl was wearing a nice sun dress under a thick winter coat. She was reading a boring-looking book. No pictures! How dare she read a non-picture book in front of Jake?

Bridget looked up over her book at Jake. She gave him one look with her striking green eyes, and then looked back at her book. "Hi." She said out of courtesy.

"Hi." Jake replied, scooting away a bit.

Bridget put down the book. "What's your name?" She asked. Her voice was really pretty.

"I'm Jake." He introduced himself. He held out his hand.

Taking Jake's hand and shaking it, the girl said, "I'm Bridget. Are you gonna be in the wedding with me?"

"Uh…" Jake turned around, trying to look for either N, Miss Touko, Auntie Iris… Someone that he'd know! Miss Bianca and Uncle Buck were sitting in the seat behind him. He got Miss Bianca's attention.

"Yeah?" Bianca asked. She knew Jake pretty well, since she, Touko and Iris were great friends and she would sometimes come over N's house to visit with Touko. That's how she got to know Jake. "What is it?"

"Am I gonna be in the wedding with…" Jake's voice got quiet. "Her?" He pointed at Bridget.

"Yes, you are. Why?" Bianca asked. Jake didn't answer. Instead he turned back to Bridget.

"So are you gonna be in the wedding with me or not?" Bridget asked.

"Uh-huh." Jake replied. The train started off, and Jake felt a jolt of fear in the pit of his stomach. He had never been on a train before, and was scared of the consequences of riding on one. "I wanna go sit by my daddy, okay?" He asked Bridget. His voice got all high-pitched, well, higher than his normal voice.

"Where is he?" Bridget asked. She looked around, searching for a red-haired man that Jake would resemble.

"I don't know." Jake replied. He saw Miss Touko sitting next to an empty seat, and saw N coming out of the bathroom. He walked over and sat next to Touko. "Oh…"

"What?" Bridget asked.

Jake blushed. "There's not enough space for me to sit down."

"Then stay here." The girl said. She picked up her book again. The train car started going uphill. Jake laid his head on Bridget's shoulder, feeling nauseous. He stayed this way throughout the whole ride. Finally, near noon, they arrived at the Village. Everyone got off the train. Jake stuck to following Bridget around. They exited the train.

The Village of Dragons was truly an amazing place. It was a medieval-style place enclosed by mountains. A sapphire river ran through the middle of the town and off into the forest. What was more amazing than the overall look of the town was the Pokémon inhabiting it. Soaring through the skies, lurking in the trees, or just hanging out in the town was purely dragon Pokémon. Bridget and Jake took off their winter coats, seeing as it was a perfect 80 degrees out. It wasn't even humid.

"Jake! C'mon, where were you?" N asked. He rushed out of the crowd and grabbed Jake's hand. "Let's go. We're going to the hotel."

"Wait!" Jake wrestled himself out of N's grip. He ran over to Bridget. "Uh, later, can we play together or something?"

"Sure. How about we meet in the lobby of the hotel?" Bridget asked. All of the attendants from the wedding coming from Unova were staying at the same hotel.

"What's a lobby?" Jake asked.

Bridget laughed. "You're funny!


End file.
